Heartbreak Weather, Eli Mosko...

LXXIX. Heartbreak Weather

      The news of only ten of them being about to go to the Sekai Taikai caused an intense feeling is stress to Odessa and her friends. They were the core four, they were never split up for anything. Odessa thought that they all deserved to go to Barcelona. "Okay, obviously I think us four should be shoo-ins for the Sekai Taikai, but, who else?" She asked the group that night when they all went out to eat.

Oliver slurped the rest of his coke. "I think Demetri should go, too," he gave his opinion.

One of Hailey's eyebrows went up. "Really?"

He frowned. "What?" He looked at Odessa and Grayson. "Demetri's a great fighter."

She quickly nodded. "Yes, he is."

"But is he good enough for us to win the tournament?" Grayson sided with Hailey's criticism. One of his arms rested on the back of her chair.

Oliver looked offended. The waitress came by and asked if they needed refills and the group handed her their glasses. "What's that supposed to mean?" He directed to the couple across from him.

Grayson looked hesitant to give an answer. He glanced at Hailey. "I mean, no offense Ol, but. . .Demetri's kind of lazy."

Odessa sighed. "Gray,"

"He's not wrong," Hailey came in while shrugging. "Sometimes he acts like he doesn't want to be there."

"So do you," Oliver brought up.

"True, but I work hard."

"So does Demetri."

When Oliver started to get mad, Odessa quickly stepped in. "Okay, okay," she said and raised her hand slightly. She smiled at the waitress's when she brought their drinks back. "Thank you – obviously this is going to be hard."

"I think it should be us, Hawk, Miguel, Sam, and Tory," Hailey listed off, confident with her answer.

"That's only eight," Odessa stated.

She shrugged again. "I don't know who else, that's all I got."

"What about Kenny?" Grayson suggested. "He's a good fighter."

Oliver furrowed his brows. "He just joined the dojo. Why should he compete with us?"

"Yeah, especially after all that shit he pulled." Hailey mumbled and picked at her fries.

"Robby trusts him. Says he's trying to get his life back on track," Odessa brought up. She shrugged a little. "Maybe he would be a good pick for the tournament."

Her friend looked her way and raised another eyebrow. "You're basing your opinion based on what Robby thinks?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't go there, Hailey."

"I'm just saying."

"Well don't," Odessa raised her voice, shocking them and herself.

There was a silence. Hailey rolled her eyes and looked down at her food. Grayson and Oliver looked at each other. "Okay," Oliver said and whistled under his breath. "Should we talk about something non karate related?"

The girls remained silent.

Eli lied on Odessa's bed and watched her put away her laundry. "Y'know, I love Hailey to death, I love her so much, but she can be such a bitch," she rambled and put her shorts in one of the drawers. "I mean, she treats me like a kid sometimes. Like her opinion's the only one that matters. It's bullshit."

"It is bullshit," he agreed with her, watching her go back and forth across the room. "But I mean, you guys are best friends. You argue all the time."

Odessa pushed the top drawer closed and she turned around, sighing irritably. "This is different, E. And I'm getting pissed off that people keeping thinking I'm basing all of my decisions off of Robby. I'm not."

The corner of Eli's mouth turned downward. "Yeah, that would get on my nerves, too."

The blonde girl walked over to the bed and sat down. She crossed her legs. "I mean, everybody knows it's you and I, so I don't get why people try to bring up the past."

Eli didn't know what to tell her on that because he was wondering the same. "Just ignore them, Dess. We're all under pressure about the tournament. I can promise you Hailey would never say anything to hurt you on purpose."

His words of wisedom calmed something in her that she didn't want to be calmed. "You know I already have a therapist, right?" Odessa asked and started to smile.

He shrugged, starting to smirk. "Yeah, but at least you don't have to pay me cash. Only with kisses."

She giggled and leaned forward. Eli leaned up and met her in the middle, kissing her gently. He pulled away and then kissed her forehead, loving the way she was smiling. "While we're confessing our feelings, can I confess something to you?" He asked.

Odessa titled her head. "Of course," she answered sweetly.

Eli grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb on her palm. He stared at the bracelet he gifted her that was on her wrist. "Promise you won't be mad?" He said, appearing worried about her reaction.

The blonde widened her eyes. "You didn't cheat on me, did you?"

His face scrunched up. "What? No! Hell no."

"Oh, okay. Sorry," Odessa said and exhaled a breath. She laughed slightly. "My bad. What's going on?"

Eli took a breath and continued rubbing her hand. "I haven't apply to MIT yet," he confessed.

Her face stilled. "What?" She asked, her eyebrows going up in shock. "Why not?"

"When we were at that frat party, I was having the best time of my life. I've been so dead set on MIT for years, since Demetri and I were kids, but the party got me thinking that I have a bunch of options instead of just one."

Odessa nodded at his explanation. "Of course you have options, E. There's a whole world of colleges out there. You shouldn't have to limit yourself to just one."

Eli half smiled at her words of wisdom, but when he thought about Demetri, it made him upset again. "How the hell do I tell Demetri that I didn't apply?" He spoke out loud.

Odessa leaned on her arm and leaned forward closer to him. "You guys are best friends. Brothers, even. True best friends don't break up just because of how far away they are from each other."

Again, Eli smiled. "So smart," he said endearingly. Eli let go of her hand and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, pulling her into him. "You're so smart. I love that about you."

He fell back against her pillows and Odessa giggled when he took her with him. "You're sweet." She said and smiled widely.

"You're sweet," Eli directed and he kissed her jaw, making her giggle again, the sound loud in his ears.

Oliver pulled into the Larusso driveway. He parked his jeep and turned to Demetri before they got out. "Ready for a day of pain?" He said with a playful smirk.

"Like we don't already live there every day," Demetri said sarcastically.

The red head tapped his hand on the steering wheel. Oliver twisted himself in the seat so that he was facing him. "Can I ask you something before we go out there?"

His boyfriend nodded. "Yeah, of course."

"Do you want to be one of the top ten? Cause I really want you to be. I think you deserve it."

Demetri looked conflicted. "I mean, yeah. Sure. I'd be nice to compete with you guys, especially you. But I'd be okay if I didn't make it. It would save me some broken bones which I'm sure I'd get."

Oliver frowned at the answer. He knew how good of a fighter Demetri was. He was strong even if he thought himself as weak. Oliver believed in him even if nobody else did. "I think you and I should work really fucking hard to make sure we're apart of the top ten cause I know you have exactly what it takes to take us to the top, D."

Demetri grew a soft, shy smile. "Thanks, Ol." He muttered.

"You got it babe," he winked and got out of the jeep. Oliver circled around and held out his hand. "It's you and me, right?"

The brunette smiled and took his hand. "Yep. You and me."

"It better be. Seeing as how we're getting our first tattoos together."

Demetri groaned. "Oh, please don't remind me."

Everybody was training harder than normal in hopes to gain a spot on the Sekai Taikai team. Odessa with her father practicing new moves for the tournament. Hailey's as on the other side of the yard with Sam and Devon. They hadn't talked since their argument at the restaurant which was unheard of for them. They were practically sisters and all sisters fought, but Odessa hated fighting with Hailey. But she didn't feel like she was in the wrong this time.

"So just watch me first, okay?" Christian instructed his daughter and positioned himself between two dummies he grabbed. "I did this move during one of my All Valley tournaments. You can basically—" he pretended to block two punches and he crouched down slightly, bringing his back leg up and kicking the dummy in the chest. Then, he dropped down and pretended fed to leg sweep the other dummy. Coming back up, Christian spun around and faced the dummy behind him, put his hands on the dummy's shoulders and brought his knee into his stomach. "What do you think?"

Odessa hummed. "Looks easy enough."

"Oh yeah?" Her dad challenged with a raised eyebrow. "Well come on, let's try."

She took his place between the dummies. Odessa raised her fists.

Christian stood with his hands behind his back. "Ready?. . . Fight!"

Odessa immediately acted like she was blocking her opponent's punches. She blocked them high and low.

"Down!" Her dad instructed.

She quickly went down and kicked the dummy in the chest, then she spun around and pretended to leg swipe the other dummy like he showed her.

"And switch!"

Odessa lifted herself back up and she faces the other dummy. She grabbed its shoulders and kneed its chest twice. Adding another layer to the move, Odessa stepped back on her left leg and brought her other leg up, kicking the dummy in the chest and knocking it over.

Christian widened his eyes. "Wow. Nice ending," he pressed.

She smiled slightly. "Figured I'd add my own flare at the end." She explained herself. Odessa picked the dummy up and paused when she saw the look on her father's face. "What?"

He quickly shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing. It's just. . ." Christian quirked a smile. "You look so much like me when you fight. It brings back a lot of memories."

She grew up hearing that. You look just like your father. You have his eyes. You have his lips. You have his smile. You have face. Everything Odessa was made of, people saw her dad. She never wanted to believe it to be true but the longer he was back, the more she got to know and understand him, the more Odessa realized how alike they actually were. Not just like look wise, but their mannerisms were the same. They practically talked the same. Her flaws were like him. All Odessa wanted to know was her kindness his or was it her mother's, because that mattered the most to her.

"I think after a few more rounds of practice, you pretty much have it down," Christian continued, talking about the move. "Why don't you and Hailey take turns practicing?"

Odessa frowned. She turned her head and saw Hailey now talking to Grayson and Miguel. She looked over as well and their eyes met. "I don't think that's a good idea," she told him and broke the eye contact.

Her father frowned at that. "Why not?"

"We kind of, uh. . .got into an argument. We haven't talked since." She explained and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"That's not like you girls," Christian said and glanced Hailey's way. "You two are thicker than thieves."

"We are, but she hurt my feelings."

The man nodded slightly. He put his hand on her shoulder. "My advice probably doesn't mean anything to you, but, life's too short to dwell on petty arguments. Love matters way more than hate, sweetheart."

Odessa met his eyes and he smiled at her. Looking across the yard again, Hailey and her locked eyes again, and the corner of her mouth turned upward. They'd been bets friends since childhood. Hailey did everything to protect her and Odessa was her voice of reason. They were opposites but that's what made them a perfect pairing. "Yeah," she muttered, responding to him.